Bill from Show Boat

Composer: Jerome Kern

Lyricist: Oscar Hammerstein II and P.G. Wodehouse
Performer: Ava Gardner
Date of Premiere: December 27, 1927
I found this piece to be rather dull and repetitive. This is likely due to the arrangement
and performance. The dynamics and tempo were constant and unchanging. The closest thing to
variation that occurred was Gardners frequently dragging tempo rubato. It has a distinctly
lounge singer essence to the performance, which leads to a listener slipping in and out of focus
while listening. There are elongated phrases that have a regular pattern of alternating note
lengths- meaning some phrases consisted of several eighth notes, followed by longer sustained
ones. Musically speaking, the song does not exhibit a great range and would be fairly simple for
most altos. However, I dont believe the song is commanding enough to serve well as an audition
piece.
The singer herself was not awful. I listened to Gardners actual performance, which was
apparently dubbed over in the released film adaptation of Show Boat. She scooped a good
number of her notes. While this may have been a stylistic choice, it suggests she did not prepare
the pitch before beginning to sing. The constant scooping also suggested a lulling rocking motion
which only inflated the already slow and dragging number. Her use of vibrato was tolerable, and
akin to that which I expect from early filmed musicals. Gardners use of diction was subpar at
times, as even upon multiple listenings to the song I was unable to understand some of the
words. The voice had a raspy quality to it which I did not care for, having a breathy quality for
the duration of the song.
Word Count: 260

People Will Say Were In Love from Oaklahoma!

(Believe it or not, Ive genuinely never seen it!)
Composer: Richard Rodgers
Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Performers: Alfred Drake and Joan Roberts
Premiere Date: March 31, 1943
I found the song fairly catchy, with a memorable melody and witty lyrics. A fairly strong
song complimented by an equally strong performance, Alfred Drake and Joan Roberts perform
with different but equally pleasing styles. As with the previous song, I feel it would greatly
benefit from a slight increase in tempo overall, especially Roberts portion. The womans verse
itself was very slow and dragged. The mans portion picks up the pace to a much livelier clip
than the first portion. The rhythm included phrases with sustained notes followed by numerous
eighth notes. The phrases were quite distinct and separate.
Both performers sang admirably. Drakes voice reminded me of Raul Esparza in
Company- his vibrato takes on a life of its own and seems almost out of control. In addition, a
slightly lowered larynx provides the baritone sound, especially on the lower notes. Robertss
voice, by contrast, has a very controlled but strong vibrato. She hit pitches dead on, with little to
no scooping, which made the melody feel more crisp than Drakes verse despite the slower
tempo. However, there is notably less variation in dynamics in Joans verse of the song. The
performances could have been heightened with a bit more power from Roberts and a more
controlled use of vibrato from Drake. Each portion of the song could make a superb audition
song. For the male portion, Daniel McCook and Joey Herr could each do this quite well. For the
womans verse, Lexi Neito and perhaps Hayley Scott should consider looking into the number.
Word Count: 256